Tonkin

Tonkin, also spelled Tongking, northern Vietnam during the French colonial period. The term Tonkin was never officially used by the Vietnamese to describe their country.

Tonkin was centred on the densely populated and intensively cultivated Red River delta. It lay north of the Ma River, Ninh Binh being its southernmost major town, and extended northward to China’s southern border.

Northern Vietnam had a long history of struggles between feudal rivals. It became a French protectorate in 1883 after years of dispute between France and China regarding its suzerainty, which alternated for centuries between the Vietnamese kingdoms and imperial China. Strongly influenced by the Chinese throughout its history, it was the chief focus of anti-French fighting after World War II.